Is sunsetting still a thing?

[Vex720]

I played a few years ago before sunsetting was implemented, and I heard about items being unusable after a certain time. Is this mechanic still a thing?

[Ixamesh]

No, but the items (season 9 and below) that were sunset stayed sunset. Some of them were "reissued" and that's it.

[Wonko]

Originally posted by Vex720:

I played a few years ago before sunsetting was implemented, and I heard about items being unusable after a certain time. Is this mechanic still a thing?

Sunsetting as a practice has stopped, but weapons that were sunset have not be "un-sunset" if that makes sense. Exotics were never sunset though and some of the sunset weapons have returned with refreshed rolls like the moon and dreaming city guns

[Nibbie]

Well, a few things.

A. Sunset items have never been unusable. Their power cannot be increased anymore, but they are still raised to the minimum item level each season, so they can be fully used in any content whose power level is set to the minimum, such as the strike playlist, most of Crucible, PvE in Gambit, most open worlds, I think half the raids and dungeons. You can't realisticly use them in any newer content (Europa right now, and Savathun's place in a month) or a lot of endgame content (Nightfalls, Iron Banner, Trials), but otherwise they remain as usable as they ever were.

B. Sunsetting was removed several seasons ago; they are no longer sunsetting equipment going forward.

C. Items that were already sunset will remain so. Acquisition methods of sunset weapons is pretty limited, so almost all equipment you get nowadays will not be sunset, so any new player (or long time returning player like you) can simply use whatever drops and not have to think about the system. It is also worth noting that Exotics were always exempt from being sunset, so they are all still usable.

[Oku]

Originally posted by Nibbie:

Well, a few things.

A. Sunset items have never been unusable. Their power cannot be increased anymore, but they are still raised to the minimum item level each season, so they can be fully used in any content whose power level is set to the minimum, such as the strike playlist, most of Crucible, PvE in Gambit, most open worlds, I think half the raids and dungeons. You can't realisticly use them in any newer content (Europa right now, and Savathun's place in a month) or a lot of endgame content (Nightfalls, Iron Banner, Trials), but otherwise they remain as usable as they ever were.

B. Sunsetting was removed several seasons ago; they are no longer sunsetting equipment going forward.

C. Items that were already sunset will remain so. Acquisition methods of sunset weapons is pretty limited, so almost all equipment you get nowadays will not be sunset, so any new player (or long time returning player like you) can simply use whatever drops and not have to think about the system. It is also worth noting that Exotics were always exempt from being sunset, so they are all still usable.

This

Pull out your Blast Furnace and take it in to Control and watch people rage quit like the good old days

[Nakos]

It's also important to understand the reasoning behind sunsetting:

One of the key concepts presented in many ARPGs is item durability. No one ever likes it, but having items that have a limited duration has pretty much always been a thing in ARPG style games. Its' a tool in the developer's toolbox for preserving (or sustaining) the perception of challenge during gameplay.

So one of the key goals of sunsetting was to "shift the meta" (Bungie's term, not mine).

Sunsetting was a "hard" form of item obsolescence.

It was widely hated. It did its job and removed some key legacy items from common use, but because it was hated, it was removed/discontinued.

However, just because Bungie has stepped away from a "hard" form of obsolescence doesn't mean that they aren't employing a "soft" form of obsolescence.

Over time, weapon mods and perks, and minor alterations to the way the game works will still bring new weapons and gear to the front, while gradually shifting older ones out of use.

"Shifting the meta" is still an important concept.

[Vex720]

Originally posted by Nakos:

It's also important to understand the reasoning behind sunsetting:

One of the key concepts presented in many ARPGs is item durability. No one ever likes it, but having items that have a limited duration has pretty much always been a thing in ARPG style games. Its' a tool in the developer's toolbox for preserving (or sustaining) the perception of challenge during gameplay.

So one of the key goals of sunsetting was to "shift the meta" (Bungie's term, not mine).

Sunsetting was a "hard" form of item obsolescence.

It was widely hated. It did its job and removed some key legacy items from common use, but because it was hated, it was removed/discontinued.

However, just because Bungie has stepped away from a "hard" form of obsolescence doesn't mean that they aren't employing a "soft" form of obsolescence.

Over time, weapon mods and perks, and minor alterations to the way the game works will still bring new weapons and gear to the front, while gradually shifting older ones out of use.

"Shifting the meta" is still an important concept.

Thanks for the response everyone, very informative.